PTTU Blog Postshttp://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/blogs/posts/recent/Most recent Blog Posts from Portal To The UniverseenFri, 22 Feb 2019 15:30:01 +0000Beresheet on its Way to the Moonhttp://www.parabolicarc.com/2019/02/22/beresheet-moon/<strong>Parabolic Arc:</strong> Beresheet Launched successfully! We received the first sign of life &amp;amp; data from #Beresheet &amp;amp; the #spacecraft deployed its landing legs as expected. #israeltothemoon @ILAerospaceIAI @ILSpaceAgency pic.twitter.com/Lmc9LhGaoo — Israel To The Moon (@TeamSpaceIL) February 22, 2019 The Falcon 9 launched as scheduled on Thursday, delivering a communications satellite to geosynchronous orbit and sending SpaceIL’s Beresheet lunar lander to the moon. The landing is scheduled for April 11.Parabolic ArcFri, 22 Feb 2019 15:30:01 +0000http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/blogs/posts/view/671593/Hayabusa2 Lands on Asteroid Ryugu, Fires Projectile to Collect Samplehttp://www.parabolicarc.com/2019/02/22/hayabusa2-lands-asteroid-ryugu-fires-projectile-collect-sample/<strong>Parabolic Arc:</strong> Everyone, we did it!!! #haya2_TD Thank you so much for your support from all over the world! pic.twitter.com/cHkeTCBgcs — HAYABUSA2@JAXA (@haya2e_jaxa) February 22, 2019 TOKYO (JAXA PR) — National Research and Development Agency Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) executed the asteroid explorer Hayabusa2 operation to touch down the surface of the target asteroid Ryugu for sample retrieval. Data analysis from Hayabusa2 confirms that the sequence of operation proceeded, including shooting a projectile into the asteroid to collect its sample material. The Hayabusa2 spacecraft is in nominal state. This marks the Hayabusa2 successful touchdown on Ryugu.Parabolic ArcFri, 22 Feb 2019 15:28:24 +0000http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/blogs/posts/view/671594/Space policy roundup – Feb.22.2019http://hobbyspace.com/Blog/?p=17909<strong>Space-For-All at HobbySpace:</strong> Space-For-All at HobbySpaceFri, 22 Feb 2019 15:15:14 +0000http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/blogs/posts/view/671595/Cold Dark Matter Is Heated Up By Stars, Even Though It Cannot ‘Feel’ Themhttps://medium.com/starts-with-a-bang/cold-dark-matter-is-heated-up-by-stars-even-though-it-cannot-feel-them-2559894e787f?source=rss----458a773bccd2---4<strong>Starts With a Bang!:</strong> The formation of cosmic structure, on both large scales and small scales, is highly dependent on how dark matter and normal matter interact. Despite the indirect evidence for dark matter, we’d love to be able to detect it directly, which is something that can only happen if there’s a non-zero cross-section between normal matter and dark matter. (ILLUSTRIS COLLABORATION / ILLUSTRIS SIMULATION)If dark matter doesn’t interact with normal matter or light, how can it be heated up?One of the great cosmic mysteries of our time is the presence and existence of dark matter. Unlike normal matter, which is made of known particles that can emit, absorb, or otherwise interact with light and the other known particles, dark matter simply passes through both itself and everything else. It is completely invisible, as far as we can tell, except for one effect: it appears to have a gravitational mass. It affects the curvature of spacetime, and holds galaxies, clusters of galaxies, and the great cosmic web together.When we run our simulations, however, we get very specific predictions for the structures that dark matter should form. The cosmic web lines up, but the smaller, galactic scales don’t. Long touted as the biggest problem ...Starts With a Bang!Fri, 22 Feb 2019 15:01:00 +0000http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/blogs/posts/view/671591/See Mercury make its best appearance in the evening sky after sunsethttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/skymania/NZCJ/~3/wvJv4DCzmEI/<strong>Skymania News:</strong> Mercury, the closest planet to the Sun, is starting to make its best appearance in the evening sky for observers at northern latitudes. Read the full post See Mercury make its best appearance in the evening sky after sunset at the astronomy and space website Skymania. We bring you latest discoveries and observing advice. Please share via the original source. All posts are copyright Skymania. [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]Skymania NewsFri, 22 Feb 2019 14:54:27 +0000http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/blogs/posts/view/671588/Radio Survey Maps Hundreds of Thousands of New Galaxieshttps://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/radio-survey-maps-hundred-thousand-new-galaxies/<strong>Sky and Telescope:</strong> Sky and TelescopeFri, 22 Feb 2019 14:52:16 +0000http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/blogs/posts/view/671585/Science and the EU: how Brexit will impact astronomyhttps://astrobites.org/2019/02/22/science-and-the-eu-how-brexit-will-impact-astronomy/<strong>astrobites:</strong> March 29th — the day that the UK leaves the EU — is fast approaching, but still nobody seems clear on exactly what is going to happen. As a British PhD student in the UK, I am naturally concerned about the impact that Brexit will have on research. I participated in an EU-funded masters programme, and now attend conferences abroad and share an office with researchers from across Europe and beyond. So how will Brexit affect science — and astronomy in particular? Money mattersWhile the UK may be a net contributor to the EU budget, we receive a disproportionately large share of EU research funding relative to the amount we pay in — so Brexit will result in a net loss to UK science funding. As the British economy undoubtedly takes a hit and the pound tumbles, our national science budget will be stretched and competition for grants will become fierce. Curiosity-driven, fundamental research such as astrophysics is likely to suffer as priorities favour impact-driven, more profitable science.More importantly, leaving the EU cuts us out of the shared funding that is crucial given the collaborative nature of scientific, and especially astrophysical, research. Horizon 2020 is the EU’s ∼€80 billion research ...astrobitesFri, 22 Feb 2019 14:21:06 +0000http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/blogs/posts/view/671581/Space settlement roundup – Feb.22.2019http://hobbyspace.com/Blog/?p=17894<strong>Space-For-All at HobbySpace:</strong> Space-For-All at HobbySpaceFri, 22 Feb 2019 14:00:59 +0000http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/blogs/posts/view/671574/Prelude to galactic catastrophehttps://www.syfy.com/syfywire/prelude-to-galactic-catastrophe<strong>Bad Astronomy:</strong> Bad AstronomyFri, 22 Feb 2019 14:00:00 +0000http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/blogs/posts/view/671587/Today’s Deep Space Extrahttp://exploredeepspace.com/news/todays-deep-space-extra-477/<strong>Coalition for Deep Space Exploration Blog:</strong> In Today’s Deep Space Extra… SpaceX and Boeing warned by NASA of design safety concerns. Japan’s Hayabusa 2 successfully landed on the surface of the asteroid Ryugu late Thursday for a quick sample collection session. An Israeli lunar lander launched from Florida’s Space Coast late Thursday as a secondary payload that includes a NASA technology demonstration. Russia eyes new tourist missions to the International Space Station (ISS). Human Space Exploration SpaceX, Boeing design risks threaten new delays for U.S. space program Coalition Member in the News – Boeing Reuters.com (2/21): NASA has warned SpaceX and Boeing of design and safety concerns for their competing astronaut launch systems, according to industry sources and a new government report, threatening the U.S. bid to revive its human spaceflight program later this year. NASA is paying SpaceX $2.6 billion and Boeing $4.2 billion to build rocket and capsule launch systems to return astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) from U.S. soil for the first time since America’s space shuttle program went dark in 2011. Space Science Japan’s Hayabusa2 Spacecraft lands on Ryugu asteroid New York Times (2/21): The Japanese Hayabusa 2 asteroid sample return mission spacecraft succeeded Thursday, U.S. time, in quickly touching ...Coalition for Deep Space Exploration BlogFri, 22 Feb 2019 13:57:16 +0000http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/blogs/posts/view/671575/Demo-1 Flight Readiness Review Beginshttps://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2019/02/22/demo-1-flight-readiness-review-begins/<strong>NASA Commercial Crew Program Blog:</strong> NASA and SpaceX are holding a flight readiness review today at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. SpaceX will launch its first uncrewed test flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The flight is an important step in returning human launches on American rockets and spacecraft to the International Space Station from U.S. soil since 2011. The meeting provides NASA and SpaceX the opportunity to assess the mission status, the currently targeted launch date and the work that needs to be completed prior to the critical flight test. William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations at NASA Headquarters, is leading the meeting. The senior SpaceX official at the review is Hans Koenigsmann, vice president for Build and Flight Reliability. More than 100 people from across the agency and at SpaceX are gathered to hear presentations from key leaders such as Kathy Lueders, manager for the Commercial Crew Program, and Kirk Shireman, manager for the International Space Station Program. The emphasis of the review is on the readiness of flight for the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and systems for an uncrewed test mission ...NASA Commercial Crew Program BlogFri, 22 Feb 2019 13:35:28 +0000http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/blogs/posts/view/671580/The InSight mission logbookhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/DLR_blogs_en/~3/F9bfkpmAyjY/<strong>DLR Blogs:</strong> DLR BlogsFri, 22 Feb 2019 13:30:00 +0000http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/blogs/posts/view/671582/Where are all the aliens? Struggling and hustling, just like ushttps://astronaut.com/where-are-all-the-aliens-struggling-and-hustling-just-like-us/<strong>Astronaut.com:</strong> The post Where are all the aliens? Struggling and hustling, just like us appeared first on Astronaut.Astronaut.comFri, 22 Feb 2019 13:28:52 +0000http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/blogs/posts/view/671571/Israeli Lunar Lander Heads to the Moonhttps://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/spaceil-beersheet-lander-moon/<strong>Sky and Telescope:</strong> Sky and TelescopeFri, 22 Feb 2019 13:17:40 +0000http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/blogs/posts/view/671572/Virgin Galactic Helps NASA Mature Space Tech on Second Flighthttp://www.parabolicarc.com/2019/02/22/virgin-galactic-helps-nasa-mature-space-tech-second-flight/<strong>Parabolic Arc:</strong> A NASA Johnson technology is loaded into Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo on Dec. 13, 2018. (Credit: Virgin Galactic) MOJAVE, Calif. (NASA PR) — Just over two months since its first venture to suborbital space, Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo is set to fly again and test four NASA-supported technologies. The flight, taking off no earlier than Feb. 22, is the company’s second mission for NASA. The planned experiments cover a range of research areas, from life support systems to electromagnetic fields. Most of the technologies flew onboard SpaceShipTwo in December 2018 and, more recently, two launched on a Blue Origin rocket. Regular access to reduced-gravity lets researchers collect data needed to mature their technologies for use in deep space. The four technology payloads planned for the mission are: Microgravity Multi-Phase Flow Experiment for Suborbital Testing, NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston Vibration Isolation Platform, Controlled Dynamics Inc. in Huntington Beach, California Collisions into Dust Experiment, University of Central Florida in Orlando Electromagnetic Field Measurements, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore The photo above shows the NASA Johnson technology payload being loaded into Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo on Dec. 13, 2018. The payload will fly again on the winged spacecraft’s second flight to suborbital space. Virgin ...Parabolic ArcFri, 22 Feb 2019 13:00:05 +0000http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/blogs/posts/view/671570/Ingredients for Water Could Be Made on Surface of Moon, a Chemical Factoryhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/AstroWatch/~3/4qRJr5gF_Ww/ingredients-for-water-could-be-made-on.html<strong>Astro Watch :</strong> When a stream of charged particles known as the solar wind careens onto the Moon&#39;s surface at 450 kilometers per second (or nearly 1 million miles per hour), they enrich the Moon&#39;s surface in ingredients that could make water, NASA scientists have found.Using a computer program, scientists simulated the chemistry that unfolds when the solar wind pelts the Moon&#39;s surface. As the Sun streams protons to the Moon, they found, those particles interact with electrons in the lunar surface, making hydrogen (H) atoms. These atoms then migrate through the surface and latch onto the abundant oxygen (O) atoms bound in the silica (SiO2) and other oxygen-bearing molecules that make up the lunar soil, or regolith. Together, hydrogen and oxygen make the molecule hydroxyl (OH), a component of water, or H2O.&quot;We think of water as this special, magical compound,&quot; said William M. Farrell, a plasma physicist at NASA&#39;s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who helped develop the simulation. &quot;But here&#39;s what&#39;s amazing: every rock has the potential to make water, especially after being irradiated by the solar wind.&quot;Understanding how much water -- or its chemical components -- is available on the Moon is critical to NASA&#39;s goal of sending ...Astro Watch Fri, 22 Feb 2019 12:16:53 +0000http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/blogs/posts/view/671569/Companies skeptical commercial lunar landers can fly NASA payloads this yearhttps://spacenews.com/companies-skeptical-commercial-lunar-landers-can-fly-nasa-payloads-this-year/<strong>Space News:</strong> WASHINGTON — As NASA selects payloads it plans to fly on commercial lunar landers, companies developing those spacecraft are skeptical any landers will be ready to fly this year, as the agency desires. NASA announced Feb. 21 that it has identified a dozen science and technology demonstration payloads from within the agency that will be eligible to fly on missions through the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. Those payloads include a range of scientific instruments, such as spectrometers and magnetometers, as well as demonstrations of solar cells and navigational beacons. NASA selected payloads mature enough to be ready to fly on CLPS missions as soon as late this year. A separate call for payloads from outside the agency, formally known as Lunar Surface Instrument and Technology Payload (LSITP), is in progress, with proposals due to NASA Feb. 27 and a selection coming in the spring. In November, NASA picked nine companies developing lunar landers to be part of CLPS. Those companies will be eligible to compete for task orders to fly those payloads, with the first such task order expected within a month. “Once we have awarded the first CLPS mission task order later this spring, we will then ...Space NewsFri, 22 Feb 2019 12:12:05 +0000http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/blogs/posts/view/671565/Pretty Pictures of the Cosmos: Hidden Gemshttp://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/adam-block/pretty-pictures-of-the-cosmos-hidden-gems.html<strong>The Planetary Society Blog:</strong> The Planetary Society BlogFri, 22 Feb 2019 12:00:07 +0000http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/blogs/posts/view/671566/Could a Space Helicopter Find Life on Saturn&#39;s Moon Titan?http://rss.sciam.com/~r/sciam/space/~3/rUzHO1O6D_8/<strong>Scientific American:</strong> Hard to say, but it’s not as crazy as it might sound -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.comScientific AmericanFri, 22 Feb 2019 12:00:00 +0000http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/blogs/posts/view/671567/Weird hexagonal dune field seen on Marshttps://earthsky.org/space/odyssey-weird-hexagonal-dune-field-mars<strong>EarthSky Blog:</strong> Unusual dune field on a crater floor in Terra Cimmeria, part of the heavily cratered southern highland region of the planet Mars. The interesting patterns of the dunes themselves are contained within a boundary that is roughly hexagon-shaped. Image via NASA/JPL-Caltech/Arizona State University. Help EarthSky keep going! Please donate what you can to our annual crowd-funding campaign. Mars can be a weird place sometimes. Although there are many of the same atmospheric and geological processes as on Earth, they can take on unusual forms not seen on our planet. The Mars rovers have discovered, for one example, very thin and delicate rock formations that are common in Mars’ lower gravity and thinner atmosphere (although similar ones can be found on Earth as well). Mars is also covered in sand dunes, much like those in earthly deserts. NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter recently took photos of a dune field that – unlike any dune field seen on Earth – has a strange-looking, roughly hexagonal shape. It’s not a perfect hexagon, but close enough to make you take notice. The new photo was posted on the Flickr page of the Mars Space Flight Facility at Arizona State University (ASU) on February 14, 2019. ...EarthSky BlogFri, 22 Feb 2019 11:54:09 +0000http://www.portaltotheuniverse.org/blogs/posts/view/671563/